05 November 2013

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner, Chito Salud, has long been under fire from online basketball fans after he failed to implement the much-needed policy reforms that will address the competitive imbalance in the league.

The frustration turned to anger after he allowed the blatant lopsided trades during the Annual PBA Draft last 3 November 2013.

Barako Bull first gave up its No. 4 pick to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in exchange for Rico Maierhofer and Willy Wilson. There were few bickering there. What drew the ire of some fans that also made them turn vitriolic are the next two moves.

Barako Bull also dealt the fifth pick in a three-way deal with Petron and GlobalPort. In return, Barako Bull received little-used benchwarmers Magi Sison and unimpressive third-stringer Mark Isip from the Boosters. If this won’t make anybody scratch their heads, I don’t know what will. However, this is just a start.

The Energy Drink squad capped its first round comedic performance by trading the No. 6 pick to GlobalPort for veteran, aging and seldom used guard Denok Miranda.

It appears that by trading their first round picks for aging veterans whose values are dwindling, Barako Bull has made it clear to the league that they are not here to win a crown, but to earn something.

It doesn't take a 'Boosters' scientist to figure out that this year's draft picks are considered one of the deepest in decades. Only a fool 'Barangay' will not use a heavy-duty 'Mixer' to differentiate the value of a possible franchise player from that of a has-been role player.

It was obvious to almost everyone, except Commissioner Salud, how the Barako Bull franchise all these years. Their current is an odd mixture of several veteran players that have been discarded by other teams. They have 22 names under their roster right now and 19 of those players have one time or another played with one of the three San Miguel Corporation (SMC) teams. Does that not tell you anything?

Rain or Shine Coach Guiao offered this friendly advice to the head of Asia's oldest basketball league: "All teams will look out for their own interests but the Commissioner has to look out for the interest of the league.Any team that has no sincere desire to compete at the highest level is a danger to themselves and the league in general."

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PBA Advisory

2017 Commissioner's Cup Format

The tournament allows teams to hire foreign players or imports with a height limit of 6-foot-10.

The top 2 teams will earn twice-to-beat edges over Nos. 7 and 8 while the No. 3 against No. 6 and No. 4 versus No. 5 pairing will be a best-of-three affair in the quarterfinals.

The semifinal stage will have a pair of best-of-five matches and the finals will be a race-to-four affair.

Gilas Pilipinas

Manila will host one of the three tournaments in the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The Philippine national men’s basketball team will try to pull off massive upsets against France, New Zealand, Canada, Turkey and Senegal in the competition slated on July 5 to July 10 at Mall of Asia Arena.

A total of 18 teams will participate in the three-nation event whose champions will book tickets to the 2016 Rio Olympics.